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Judging by Adam Marletta’s response on Monday, it seems that my article about President George W. Bush fell on deaf ears. I have to say, I was entertained by some of the comments online. I knew sticking my head above the crowd would get me shot. The responses seemed to be the usual Bush-bashing platform, the same arguments that motivated me to write something good about the former president in the first place.
I wrote about what Bush will be remembered by, and some of the things Mr. Marletta said certainly are not among them. I am surprised that some believe he was never fairly elected president. I know the facts of the Bush v. Gore case. There were several factors in the recount that made it unconstitutional under the equal protection and due process clauses. If anything, this case showed that the liberal-leaning justices of the Supreme Court vote for their personal beliefs, not what the Constitution says. In 2004, Bush received more votes than anyone ever had. The event Mr. Marletta was talking about is the vote in Ohio, where Secretary of State Ken Blackwell certified the election results as legitimate before anyone could call for a recount.
Mr. Marletta also mentioned that tax cuts were only for the rich, which is another fallacy. If it was true, my father would have not received a tax refund check. Let me give everyone a crash course in taxes: The reason that the poor did not get tax cuts is because they pay hardly any to begin with. The lowest tax bracket is for those who make less than $16,000 per year and they pay ten percent to federal income tax. That means they are paying less than $1,600. If they had three kids they would have paid nothing.
I said Bush admitted when he was genuinely wrong. I was talking about the fact Bush admitted he was wrong about Weapons of Mass Destruction. I could say a lot about the war in Iraq. Mr. Marletta mentioned Naomi Klein’s work as if it were accepted fact. She happens to be a left-wing activist who would never represent both sides. Every time I walk by the MLK plaza and see “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” I am reminded of why the war in Iraq was necessary.
I can tell my article was misunderstood because Mr. Marletta did not believe that the media criticized Ronald Reagan. Watch political coverage from the 1980s and decide for yourself. All those who opposed Reagan have learned to keep it quiet now because they discovered Americans actually liked him. I was saying once the heat of the moment passes, it will be the same for Bush. Mr. Marletta also said that Reagan committed crimes that were overlooked. I remember President Clinton committing perjury – an offense that carries a penalty of up to five years in jail, and he served none of that time.
As for the closing lines of Mr. Marletta’s response, I challenge anyone to find instances where Bush suppressed free speech and civil liberties of Americans and stepped outside the bounds of the Constitution with his executive power. I think the left will be sad to see Bush go, because now there is nobody to blame but Congress and Obama when they fail.
Jonathan Zappala is a junior psychology student.
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